CALIFORNIA RAND SILVER / KELLY

LETTER IN THE COLLECTION OF BARBARA McCORMICK

Randsburg, Cal. April 22/19

Mr. A. J. McCormick

Dear Al

I Received your telegram yesterday.  I was please at the outcome of the investigation.  I wilsh you would send me the map I left it in your office.  Another  matter I have in mind , I have three claims joining a claim you have over east of us I believe the name is Janeta or pronounced in United States Waunita.  I think I can wild cat these to a party from the city for cash, of course I would not expect to get a very big price but I don’t concider they would demand a very big price for I don’t think any of us will ever do the assesment work on them.  I know that I will not, let me know if you want to put your claim in .   I remaim yours very truly.  J. W. Kelly.

BARSTOW PRINTER 10-23-1919
The Kelly mine, now a fixture, and to date the producing marvel of the past fifty years, started prospecting on a scale hitherto undreamed of on the Mojave desert sections of San Bernardino, Kern, and Inyo counties.  Prospecting and development work is actively in progress in every direction in within a radiou of 100 miles of the old camp (Randsburg), and rumors of finds are of daily occurnece.  The deeper is goes. The richer in values is the true story of the Kelly mine. as the smelter returns bear eloquent testimony.

The Kelly mine, down 129 feet in working shaft, is better than ever as regards ore body and values.  It is no longer a question of making a mine, but how much richer it will grow as depth is made.  So patent is this fact that the Tonopah money is in evidence in large juicy chunks.  The Tonopah capital, dubious, if not actually disbelieving when the Kelly mine was struck, is not satisfied that development work on an extensive scale will warrand the securing of options on ground in the vicinity of proven ground, and the Tonopah Company is putting money in, and starting work on an extensive scale.  The Bakersfield syndicate, operating fice leases and owning interest in several others, are working overtime and express confidence in the future, as every indication points to the fact that they are on or in the ore zone.  Optomism is the ruling tone, and development work is being pushed to the limit on every lease. 

BARSTOW PRINTER 1-15-20
Shipments of high grade continue from the Kelly Mine and values show steady increase as depth is made.

Pending the results of the core drilling work (see Osdick Mine), lease work on the Kelly and contguous ground is slowing down, as the core drilling will determine the mooted question of depth, aside for the Kelly mine workings, which at 177 feet are in pay ore, most of it high grade.

BARSTOW PRINTER 1-29-20
Reports from the Kelly silver mine carry the same old story, “greater values are depth is made.”  The shaft at 180 feet developed the highest grade as yet struck, and the sulphide deposits are not in evidence yet.  During the last ten days exhaustive examination of the mine proper, and the surrounding property has been made by experts representing a syndicate of capitalists, who desire to purchase all the available ground, and, if possible, the mine as part of the proposed deal.

In conversation with a member of this party, or syndicate, the writer was told tht the mine, so far developed, is “beyond doubt” the silver producing wonder that has discovered within the last 50 years and that “in his judgement, within five years the camp will be one of the largest on the coast.”  This means that deep mining will be prosecuted and that a smelter or other reduction process will be installed on an extensive scale. 

That an offer has been made for the property, as is now under consideration by some of the owners, is exact fact, but so far as being made public, no information has been given out to the general public.

J. W. Kelly and confreres have ordered a fifty-ton electric hoist to meet present demands, and it is somewhere on the road under transit.  Three full shifts are working and as rapidly as is made additional men are being added to the working force.  The mine, at this writing, is down 210 feet, and still in ore, mostly high grade, with all ore, and no waste below mill grade.

A dividend, said to be $140,000, will be divided prior to February 1st, and old Jack Nosser is en-route to Bakersfield to get his.  J. W. Kelly left for Los Angeles on Sunday on a business trip, and to visit Mrs. Kelly, and Miss Edith Coons, who visiting the beach at Santa Monica.

Mineral Survey 5480, Independence Land District, Claim Amended November 25, 1919, Known as “Juanita”, “Uranium No. 8”, “Uranium No. 3”, “Uranium No. 2”, “Uranium No. 1”, “Uranium Fraction”, “Uranium No. 6”, “Uranium No. 5”, “Uranium No. 4”, “Uranium No. 7”, “Uranium No. 10”,Lodes, owned by California Rand Silver, Inc., Improvements consist of 18 shafts, 29 shafts and drifts, 1 Trench, 1 cut, 4 cuts and tunnels, 1 cut tunnel and drift, 1 incline, and 1 incline, drifts, crosscuts, winzes and upraise, Valued at $149,485.

Mineral Survey 5531, Independence Land District, Claim Surveyed March 10, 1921, Known as” K. C. N. NO. 1”, “K.C.N. NO.2”, “J. W.”, “W. H.”, “W. H. No. One”, “W. H. No. 2”, “W.H. No. 3”, ‘Wade”, Wade H. No. 1”, and “Wade H. No. 2” Lodes, owned by California Rand Silver, Inc., Improvements consist of 48 shafts, 5 trenchs and  5 shafts and drifts, Valued at $22,325.

Mineral Survey  5691, Independence Land District, Claim Located May 28, 1922,  Known as Uranium 11 and Uranium 12, owned by California Rands Silver, Inc.  Improvements consist of 1 shaft, cross cuts and drift, valued at $12, 741.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  JULY 28, 1922 pg. 211
A suit involving 80,000 shares of stock in California Rand Silver, Inc., instituted last September bu E. L. Blanck and J. J. Noser (sic), owner of the stock, has been setteled out of court, Noser (sic) and Blanck will each receive 40,000 shares.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  AUGUST 19, 1922 pg. 324
CALIFORNIA’S GOLD-MINING INDUSTRY RECOVERING-- …During the first six months of 1922 the U. S. Mint at San Francisco and local smelters and refiners received …….silver during the first half of 1922 by the mint and local smelters and refiners, amounted to $1,440,842 valued at $1 and ounce, or $157,147 less than in the firs half of 1921, when silver was valued at $1.09 per ounce,  This decrease is due to the continued adelness of most of the large copper and lead producing mines, from which much of the silver mined in California is derived.  The silver mines in San Bernardino County are increasing their output somewhat, but not suffieciently to counteract the loss in the output of copper and lead ores.  The mines that now produce the most silver are the California Rand, Inc., the Grady Lease on the same mine, in San Bernardino County, and the Engles copper mine in Plumas County.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  Aug. 26, 1922 pg. 388
The Randsburg district continues to attract attention in consequence of the output from the California Rand, the premier silver producer of California.  The Ben Hur, Belcher Extension, and other companies are active, and numerous corporations are developing ore.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  September 30, 1922, pg. 608
At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the California Rand Silver Co. Inc., the following directors were elected:  B. H. Sill, J. J. Nosser,  W. H. Williams, J. A. Hughes, Alfred Harrell, E. T. Grady, F. B. Chapin, W. H. Coons, and Alex Ward.  At the director’s meeting following the stockholders’ meeting officers were elected as follows;  Alfred Harrell, president; Dwight L. Clarke, Secretary;  J. A. Hughes, W. H. Williams, J. J. Nosser, vice-presidents; Securtiy Trust Company treasurer.  Production for the last year is reported to have been 14,000 tons of ore shipped; 33,000 tons milled; and net production $1, 327,623 for the year ending Sept. 1.  The total net production of the property in three years was $3,305,540.  The mill was constructed in 112 days at a cost of $110,000 and it produced concentrates of a gross value of $458,953 during the first nine months of operation. 

THE RAND MINER 10-11-22
Big Silver Pays $25,000 In Dividends During September—Report To Stockholders Shows Camp’s Biggest Producer In Fine Shape—The following statement to stockholders outlining activities during the month of September, was issued by the California Rand Silver Corporation, known locally as the, “Big Silver” and on the outside as the “Kelly Mine”.

        Bakersfield, Oct. 4, 1922

To the  Stockholders of California Rand Silver Incorporated;

Herewith please find check for two cents per share covering regular dividend No. 33 totaling $25,600. With this dividend the total disbursement to stockholders since January of this year is seventy cents per share, or $896,000; and since organization $1.53 ½ per share, or a grand total of $1, 964,800.

ORE EXTRACTION AND ADVANCEMENT
During September, tonnage extracted was as follows:
 Shipping ore, tons …………..…..962
 Milling ore , tons ……………....4312
 Waste, tons …   ……………..…2352
  Total extraction. Tons  7652

 Advancements were as follows:
 Drifts, feet ……………………1163
 Raises, feet …………………….140
 Crosscuts, feet …………………102
 Shafts, feet ……………………..140
 Total advancements, feet……..1505
During the month, sinking of our No. 2 Shaft was resumed as announced in last month’s letter and it reached a depth of 821 feet on the 30th ult.

The payroll for September amounted to $35, 109.53

  Milling Operations

Except for the shutdown of virtually two days occasioned by an interuption in the Yellow Aster water supply, the operation of the mill was substantially as heretofore reportedl
 Total milled ore, tons ------------------------------------4391
 Daily average running time, tons --------------------168.24
 Daily Average, tons ------------------------------------146.37
 Running time -----------------------------26 days, 2 ½ hours
 Lost time-----------------------------------3 days, 21 ½ hours
 Average gold heads----------------------------------------1.66
 Average silver heads-------------------------------------14.02

  Total average value ---------------------------16.68
Average gold extraction---------------------------------------------75.30 per cent
Average silver extraction--------------------------------------------93.36 per cent
Total average extraction---------------------------------------------91.45 per cent
Recovery per ton-------------------------------------------------------$14.34
Total recovery on 4,391 tons-------------------------------------62,966.94
Average concentrate value-------------------------------------------367.00
Tons of concentrates produced at $367.00-------------------------171.57
Cars of concentrates shipped, net------------------------------------240

During the last days of the month the new machinery designed to increase capacity to 200 tons was put in operation.

  Water Situation

Late in the month the mine commenced pumping from the new Teagle sprins well, and is now being supplied with nearly 25,00 gallons daily from this source.  The water is of high quality and materially improves the domestic water service of the mine.

  Annual Meeting and Report

On September 14th the regular meeting of the stockholders was held and the following Board of Directors elected for the ensuing year:

Frank B. Chapin, Alfred Harrell, B. H. Sill, W. H. Coons, J. A. Hughes, Alex Wark, Edward T. Grady, J. J. Nosser, W. H. Williams.

Upon its organization said Board elected the same officers that have served you during the past year. 

During September 945 tons of ore (23 cars) and 240 tons of concentrates (16 cars) were shipped.  We call attention to the fact that the mine since discovery has now shipped over one thousand cars of ore and concentrates.

Receipts from the smelter were $174, 244.56.
After the payment of your dividend of $25,600, your company has on hand $383,127.85

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  OCTOBER 28, 1922, pg. 783
Randsburg—About $14,000,000 worth of ore has been blocked out and eveloped in the California Rand mine at Randsburg since its discovery late in 1919, according to the annual report to stockholders, recently issued.  Much of this has been shipped, but in addition to the shipments ore worth, $7.728,00 is blocked out to a vertical depth of only 518 ft.  From the returns from this development the company has paid $1, 964, 800 in dividends, and on Oct. 4 had a cash balance of $338,127.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  NOVEMBER 11, 1922, pg. 870
Randsburg—The California Rand Co. has distributed $1,964,800 in dividends since the company was incorporated.  No. 2 shaft is 850 ft. in depth, and the capacity of the mill will be increased to 200 tons per day.  The company has $383,000 in its treasury.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  DECEMBER 2, 1922, pg. 1009
MINING DIVIDENDS FOR NOVEMBER—California Rand  $0.02 per share for a total of $25,600.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  DECEMBER 9, 1922, pg. 1045
Randsburg—The California Rand Co. will increase its mill capacity from 200 to 400 tons per day.  The company has declared its regular monthly dividenc of 2 cents, and an extra disbursement of 10 cent per share bringing the year’s dividends to $1,049,000 and the total dividends to $2,11l,400 since incorporation.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  DECEMBER 16, 1922, pg. 1087
The California Rand Silver, Inc. operating at Randsburg, Calif. Has increased its mill capacity from 150 to 200 tons per day by the addition of a new crushing unit delivering a finer feed to the ball mill.  The grinding, flotation, and settling units will now be doubled, bringing the capacity up to 400 tons per day.  The company’s annual report states that it has a reasonably assured tonnage of ore, assaying 20 oz per ton, to supply the mill for 1923.  As the rate of shipment is 1,000 tons per month to the smelters, 1923 promises to be a busy year.  Some time ago the company announced the discovery of a vein at 600 foot depth in shaft No. 6, on the extreme north end of its property.  The shaft was sunk over 500 feet in depth through a cemented granite wash before encountering the schist formation.  New and heavier equipment is being installed at No. 6 shaft.

A “semi-commercial” furnace for smelting concentrate at the mine is being erected.  Experimental work has resulted in the development of a successful process using trona a a flux.  The present installation is preliminary to building a twenty-ton plant which will handle the concentrate from tow hundred tons of ore per day.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  DECEMBER 16, 1922, pg. 1087
The Fox lease is installing new electrical equipment to continue sinking its shaft from the 700 to the 1000 level, at which pont a crosscut will be extended east toward the new ore zone.

ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL-PRESS,, McGRAW HILL COMPANY, INC. 10TH AVE AT 36TH STREET, NEW YORK.  DECEMBER 30, 1922, pg. 1185
MINING DIVIDENDS IN DECMEBER—California Rand Silver --00

CALIFORNIA SATE MINING BUREAU BUTTLETIN NO. 95, MARCH 1925
GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE RANDSBURG QUADRANGLE—CARLTON D. HULIN, Ph. D.  PAGES 108 AND 109
On April 12, 1919, the discovery of the ore bodies now being worked by California Rand Silver Mine was made by Jack Nosser and W. H. Williams.  The original outcrop of the ore occurred only about 30 feet from a well-traveled road on the Juanita claim, a gold property.  The outcrop contained abundant cerargyrite, assays of surface material showing some 300 ozs of silver and 3 ozs of gold per ton.  Much of the earlier work was done by leasers.

During its early life, the California Rand Silver Mine was literally without a dump.  The initial work consisted of an opening in the Shaft Vein which was 17 feet wide, 22 feet long and 75 feet deep, commencing at the surface.  All of the rock which came out of this hole was high grade-ore which was shipped direct to the smelter, producing over $300,000.

Ore was struck on only one of the leases, that operated by Mr. E. T. Grady.  This lease which was only 120 feet square and 450 feet deep is credited with a production of 1,487, 742 ox of silver and 5430 of gold from the 18,222 tons of ore which were mined during the life of the lease. 

The silver deposit was at first generally accepted as a freak which would not persist with depth.  But as its true nature became known, the surrounding ground was subjected to to intense exploration, some forty to fifty shafts being sunk within a radius of less than a mile.  These shafts vary from fifty to 1,100 feet in depth, probably averaging 350 feet.  Prospecting apparently reached its peak in the feverish activity which pervaded the region during 1922 and 1923. 
During the life of the Pittman Act with its guarantee of  $1.00 per ounce for domestic silver, the operators of the California Rand Silver Mine made every possible effort to produce as much silver as possible.  It was during this period, that much, of the high-grade ores of the deposit were exploited.

The expiration of the Pittman Act in 1923, with the resulting decrease in the value of the silver produced, apparently made but little difference in the operations of the California Rand Silver Mine, though it must have noticeably increased the lower limit of value of ore which could be profitably milled.  The decrease in the price of silver, however, has a deterrent effect on the exploration of surrounding properties.

The California Rand Silver Mining company started the erection of a 100-ton flotation mill in September, 1921, and on December 15 of the same year it commenced operations.  Later, the capacity of the mill was increased to 400 tons per day. 

The latest reports from the camp indicate that the California Rand Silver properties have been unable to keep the development of ore sufficiently ahead of the production to keep the mill running at full capacity, so that commencing early in the spring of 1924 the mill was being operated during only one shift each day.

This property is operated by the California Rand Silver, Inc. whose head office is in Bakersfield.  This company holds eleven claims of fractions surrounding the California Rand Silver Mine, as well as nine claims which are under lease to the St. Lawrence Rand Mining Company.

The California Rand Silver Mine is developed by approximately seven miles of drifts and crosscuts, and by a number of shafts, all of which have practically been abandoned except the No. 1, the No. 2 and the No. 6.

The No. 1 shaft (2 compartment) is inclined at an angle of seventy three degrees to the horizontal, roughly following the dip of the Shaft Vein.  It extends down to the 11th level, a vertical depth of 660 feet below the collar of the shaft.  Throughout its length it is in schist of vein matter.  It is dry at the bottom.

The No. 2 shaft (2 compartment) is vertical, extending to a depth of 1003 feet.  The shaft, excepting a shall thickness of overburden near the surface, is entirely in schist.  Water was struck at a depth of 715 feet, 5000 gallons per day being produced.  The 14th level is at present the lowest level connecting with the No. 2 shaft.

The No. 6 shaft (single compartment) on the northern part of the property is also vertical.  It is 785 feet in depth and has a little water at the bottom.  It entered the schist at a depth of 560 feet below the collar, the material above that point consisting chiefly of Rosamond sandstones with a small thickness of overburden near the surface.  Levels are cut at depths of 610, 660, and 720 feet.  As yet none of the workings have connected with the workings of the main mine to the south.

In the main mine the levels are somewhat irregularly spaced down to the 11th level, the level interval being about 60 feet.  Between the 11th and 14th levels, the level interval is 100 feet, although as yet only the stations have been cut on the 12th and 13th levels. 

From the time of its discovery in April 1919, until April 1, 1924, a period of nearly five years, the California Rand Silver Mine made a gross production of gold and silver worth $10, 152, 666, 90.  This figure is based on the smelter returns for the ore and concentrates shipped.  The milling recovery for the gold is about 75 per cent and for the silver about 90 per cent.  The value of the silver was based on the current market prices at the time of production.  The details of production of the property to April 1, 1924, are given in the following table.  (See California Rand Silver Excel file.)

An examination of the figures given in the table shows that the gold-silver ratio in the milling ore is approximately 1 ounce of gold to 264 ounces of silver, whereas the ratio for shipping ore, (high grade) is 1 ounce to 441 ounces of silver.  This is suggestive, as are the erratic gold assays obtained in many parts of the mine, that the gold and silver have been deposited by different solutions, a conclusion already reached as the result of microscopic study.

The distinction between milling and shipping ore is directly dependent on the market value of silver at the time of production.  Previous to June, 1923, when as a result of the Pittman Act silver was worth $1.00 an ounce, ore had to contain 70 ounces of more of silver to be considered shipping ore.  Ore worth less than $70 per ton is milled before shipping.  Both ore and concentrates are smelted at Selby, California.

The California Rand mill has a daily capacity of 400 tons of ore.  The mill is equipped with crushers, 2 ball mills, 2 pebble mills, 2 classifiers, flotation cells and settling tanks. 

The following figures, based on the ore milled previous to June, 1, 1923 will serve to indicate the milling efficiency.

 Ore Milled, tons……………………………………………………………97,274
 Average mill heads, per ton………………………………………………..$17.51
 Average mil tails, per ton……………………………………………………$2.00
 Average concentrates, per ton……………………………………………$332,.93
 Ratio of concentration………………………………………….……….21.45 to 1
 Extraction…………………………………………………..………88.62 per cent

The nature of the concentrates may be judged from their content of 5 per cent to 6 per cent of arsenic and 2 ¼ to 3 ¼ of antimony.

The cost of mining, milling, and marketing a ton of ore from the California Rand Silver Mine, including fixed charges is $12.09 per ton (under the conditions existing in the spring of 1923).  The cost is distributed as follows:

 Mining………………………………………………………………….…….$6.46
 Milling…………………………………………………………………………2.25
 Freight……………………………………………………………………………63
 Tramming………………………………………………………………….……..06
 Sampling………………………………………………………………………….01
 Smelter treatment……………………………… ..……………………………….69
 General……………………………………………………………………………59
 Taxes………………………………………………………………………………60
 Depreciation………………………………………………………………….……80

  Total………………………………………………………………….$12.00

On the basis of 88.69 per cent extraction, and costs as they existed in the spring of 1923, the ore must possess and initial assay value of practically $14.00 per ton before it can be exploited at a profit.
The present (January 1924) ore production amounts to from 360 to 375 tons daily.  A total of 303 men are employed, 129  underground and 174 on the surface.

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kELLY MILL 1930'S

CALIFORNIA RAND SILVER MILL

1922

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UNDERGROUND WORKINGS OF THE KELLY MINE.----------------------------------------------- Glenn Hatton Loading Ore in Kelly Mine------------------------------------
Kelly Mine and Mill Late 20's
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